Carburetor



July 17, 1934. L. KENNEDY I 7 49) 4 I 5 a9 3 a? I 7 1a I INVENTOR Guy L KEN/v50 I BY ATTORNEY G. L. KENNEDY CARBURE-I'OR Original Filed Jan. 5, 1925 July 17, 1934.

'II VIII/IA I a NVENTOR Quy Z.) NNEDY a Patented July 17, 1934 PATENT OFFICE CARBURETOB Guy L. Kennedy,

Ken-Grip Corporation, poration of New York Original application January 5,

New York, N. Y., assignor to New York, N. Y., a cor- 1925, Serial No.

688. Divided and this application August 13, 1925, Serial No. 49,965. Renewed February 5,

22 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in carburetors; especially carburetors to produce an explosive motive agent for internal combustion engines.

An object of the invention is to provide a carburetor which is capable of vaporizing to the maximum extent .a fuel in liquid form by the action of a current of air; the result being acombustible product of uniform composition, perfectly dry, and rich in the ingredients that can be converted upon ignition into heat and power;

and which is equipped with a valve of peculiar form, for controlling the admission of air to the carburetor; said valve being adapted to cooper 5 ate with the parts for permitting the entrance of the fuel and regulating the quantity thereof, in such manner that the most complete, unfailing, and efficient vaporizing action can always be secured.

Another object is to provide a carburetor that is constructed to establish and maintain, adjacent the point at which the fuel is admitted, a constant vacuum of a degree suflicient to insure the required vaporization under all conditions of operation; regardless of fluctuations occurring in the intake manifold of the engine.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the description below, and the characteristics of my invention are defined in the appended claims. But, while only one form in which the features of my invention are embodied, is set forth herein, I may of course vary the mechanical structure by which my invention is practiced, without departing from the principles by which my invention is distinguished.

On the drawings,

Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a carburetor according to my invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan thereof;

Figure 3 is a side view of the same;

Figure 4 is an opposite side view; I

Figure 5 is a side view of aform of valve for .controlling the air supplied to a carburetor according to my invention;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section therethrough; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view of thehydrocarbon injector of the carburetor. I

The same numerals identify the same parts throughout.

This application is a division of my application for a patent upon improvements in Carburetors, Serial No. 688, filed January 5th, 1925.

In detail, a carburetor according to my invention comprises a casing 1, which may be cylinceives the end of the injector.

drical in shape with open ends, and a longitudinal bore 2 extending through it. This casing will be attached at one extremity to the manifold which leads to inlet valves of the engine for which the carburetor is intended. Penetrating the wall of the casing at a suitable point is a gasoline injector 3; and air is admitted to the bore 2 by way of openings 4 in the sides of the casing. The quantity of the air. so admitted is regulated, and the most advantageous action thereof is secured by means of a tubular member or valve 5, which slides up and down in the bore 2 under the control of a cam 6, mounted upon a rotatable shaft 7, in bearings at opposite sides of the casing. This valve or sleeve 5 has openings 4a in its sides which are always in registry with the openings 4, and enough air can always enter the interior of the casing 1 and valve 5 to take up and diffuse the fuel, such as gasoline, or other inflammable substance, which is supplied by the injector 3. The valve 5 is held down by the cam 6, but rises under the influence of suction exerted uponit by the engine.

The injector 3 is threaded engagement with at one side of the casing; and the outer end of the injector is enlarged to provide a shoulder 9, which abuts the extremity of the boss, and thus makes'a good joint. Inside of the injector is a duct or channel 10; and adjacent the shoulder 5 9 this channel is enlarged and threaded internally as at 11, to couple with a conduit 12, which leads from the gasoline tank, and has a bore 13 which communicates with the bore 10. Thus gasoline, or any other volatile hydrocarbon, can flow from the tank to the injector 3. At its inner extremity the injector has a restricted outlet oriflce 14, at the center of the bore 2.

Mounted on the inner end of the injector 3, is a tubular support 15, having a bore 16, which re- This support carries an expansion nozzle 1'7. In its proper position, this support. 15' extends across the bore 2, and it has two alined apertures or ports,.one leading to the smaller end of the nozzle 1'7, and the other in the side of the support 15 at a point diametrically opposite. The nozzle 17 and the two ports 18 are at the center of the bore 2, and the injector 3 delivers through its orifice 14 at the line of centers of the ports 18. In the support 15 is a small aperture or hole 19, registering-with a hole 20 in the side of the injector leading to the duct 10. To vary the flow of gasoline, there is a valve or metering pin 21, with a needle point 22, projecting into the orifice 14; and this pin 21 is 11d supported by having screwthe bored a boss 8 30 slidabiy mounted in a sleeve 23, that passes through a bearing 24 on the opposite side of the casing l, and likewise enters the support 15. The sleeve 23 has a flange or collar 25 at its outer extremity abutting the bearing 24; and the outer end of the pin 21 projects out of the sleeve and is threaded as at 26 to receive an adjustable screw cap 27. A spring 28 encircles the bearing 24, seating against both the casing 1 and the cap 27; and ordinarily tends 'to withdraw the valve 21,

Hence, when air enters the carburetor, gasoline delivered by injector 3 through the orifice 14, as the needle point 22 of the valve 21 is withdrawn, more or less, is carried through the upper port 18 into the spray expansion nozzle 17. As the gasoline fiows through the duct 10 on its way to the orifice 14, it entrains some air through the registering apertures 19 and 20, and the gasoline in consequence appears at the orifice in the form of bubbles, the films of which are broken into fine particles and divided and disseminated by the current of air entering the nozzle 17. As illustrated in Figure 1, the support 15 passes through the opposite sides of the valve 5 also, but does not prevent or interfere with the movement of this valve, as set forth hereinafter; and the shaft 7 carrying the cam 6 for controlling the valve 5 is located adjacent one end of the casing; while the expansion nozzle 17 is presented with its wider end towards the opposite or discharge extremity of the carburetor.

The valve 5 cooperates with the nozzle 17, and one extremity surrounds it. This extremity is conical and contracted as indicated at 29, with a central opening 30. The edge or periphery of this opening is separated from the rim of the mouth of the nozzle 1'7 by a narrow annular space 31. In the sides of this tubular valve 5, between the openings 4a, are longitudinal slots 32, through which the shaft 7 and the support 15 can pass, so that the valve 5 can move axially in the bore 2 as already stated. The opposite extremity of the valve 5 is closed by a disk or plate 33, which has a boss 34 at its center, with an inside threaded bore or recess for an adjustable pin or screw 35, this screw having in its upper end a seat for a ball 36, which is engaged by the cam 6. The extremity of the valve 5 bearing the closure 33 thus completely shuts the adjacent end of the casing, and all air entering the carburetor must flow in through the openings 4, the corresponding openings 4a leading to the inside and this air travels to the other end of the carburetor by way of the ports 18 and space 31.

On the shaft 7 at one side of the carburetor is an actuating arm 37, and this shaft also carries a fixed collar 38, abutting the adjacent bearing 39 for the shaft on the casing l. Adjacent this bearing the casing has an external web 40, and the collar has a projection 41 to engage the web 40, which serves as a stop at the end of the rotation of the shaft actuating the cam 6 to pull down the valve 5 as far as it is designed to go, and make the space 31 as small as possible. On the opposite side of the casing is a similar bearing 39 for the shaft 7, and abutting this bearing is a hub or sleeve 42, having a post 43 on top, and two diverging downward extending arms 44 at the sides. The post 43 has a recess 45 which acts as a bearing to receive a pivot pin 46. Rigidly secured to this pin is an arc-shaped strip 47, to serve as a cam for a purpose to be mentioned later; this cam being fastened to the pin 46 at the middle of the strip. The outer ends of the arms 44 have threaded holes to receive headed bolts of the valve 5;

48. These bolts, at the ends remote from the heads, are reduced to provide annular shoulders 49. The reduced ends go through perforations in the endsof the cam strip 47; engaging washers 50 on the opposite face of the strip, and being riveted over or upset at their terminal, to keep the washers in place. The reduced portions are smooth, not threaded; and obviously, if the bolts 48 are turned, either end of the strip can be drawn towards the adjacent arm 44, or pushed away from it. The cap 27 of the valve 21 for the gasoline makes contact with the rear face of the strip behind the pivot pin 46, and .can be set as required. The bolts 48 are set to adjust the cam so that the end shown as the upper end in Figure 2, which is the end presented to the observer in Figure 1, and the end shown at the right in Figure 4, is farther from the side of the casing 1 than the other end of the strip. Therefore, the rotation of the shaft 7 by the movement of the arm 37 towards the observer in Figure 1; or counter-clockwise in Figure 4, will enable the spring 28 to open the valve 21 more and more, and permit greater quantities of gasoline bubbles to pass out through the orifice 14; while at the same time the cam 6, shown in broken lines in Figure 3, rotating clockwise, brings portions of shorter and shorter radii into line with the screw 35, and thus permits the valve 5 to move farther and farther upward.

This cam is described and defined in the claims of my application, Serial No. 694,791, filed Feb ruary 24, 1924, which has since matured into Patent No. 1,548,043, dated Aug. 4, 1925.

In operation, if the cam 6 is set as shown in Figure 3, the annular space 31 will be practically eliminated, or be of minimum area only, because the valve 5 will be held down to its lower limit, and the cam 47 will keep the valve 21 in such position that only the minimum amount of gasoline can escape into the space or passage between the injector and the sleeve 23, in line with the two ports 18. In this position, the engine can idle only, and air entering by way of the openings 4 and 4a flows upward through ports 18 and nozzle 17. Air entrained with the gasoline through the openings 19 and 20 makes the gasoline escaping at the orifice 14 appear in the form of bubbles, and these bubbles are torn apart and the gasoline in the films thereof vaporized by air flowing past the orifice 14. The spray of gaseous fuel thus created flows through the nozzle 17, and continues as the shaft 6 is turned to allow the valve 5 to lift and open the space 31; and by the time the spray reaches the upper enlarged end of this nozzle, the mixture of air and finely divided gasoline encounters the annular jet of air blowing through the space 31. This jet attacks the spray from all sides and forces it towards the axis of the nozzle, further vaporizing and dividing the gasoline and thus carrying the process one step farther.

The support 15 and flared nozzle 17 are a single member, T-shaped, though inverted, the nozzle extending longitudinally of the casing and the part 15 being transverse. The passage through the nozzle extends across the part 15 and includes the ports 13.

It will be observed that the cam 6 has such form that, as it rotates with the shaft, it will allow the valve 5 to move upward more and more, in exact ratio to the angular movement of the cam. See Figure 3. In other words, when the cam turns twenty-two and one half degrees from its position in Figure 3, it allows the valve to move so that the space 31 is enlarged enough to permit, along with the'openings 18, about one half as much air to pass through the carburetor, as when the cam has moved forty-five degrees, and one fourth as much as when the cam 6 has moved ninety degrees, at which point the valve 5 will be opened fully. At the same time the cam strip '47 is so set that the valve 21 will act in the same way to open a larger and larger portion of the orifice 14, and the gasoline supplied by the injector will also increase in exact ratio to the degree of angular movement of the cam 47. Hence the ratio of the gasoline to the air entering the carburetor is constant; both increase or decrease together in the same degree; but the ratio never changes; and hence the composition of the product is uniform and unalterable, no matter whether much or little air and gasoline are admitted.

I do not claim in this case the interconnected air valve 5 and fuel valve '21, as this combinationis claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 49,966, of even date herewith.

To carry further and consummate the vaporization, the upper end of the casing 1 is constructed to act upon the mixture, in the same manner as the air flowing through the space 31. Therefore the upper end of the casing is provided with an extension 52 at one side, above the cam 47, and the bore 2 adjacent this extension is enlarged to make an annular shoulder 53. Above the shoulder 53 is another annular shoulder 54, and supported by this shoulder 54 is a deflector element 55. The body of this element is of less diameter y than the bore 2 between the shoulders 53 and 54, but it has a peripheral flange 56 at its upper end to rest upon the shoulder 54. The element 55 terminates a little short of the shoulder 53, leav-.

ing a small annular port or space 31a thereat, similar to the space 31, and the element-55 will have a tapering bore or inside surface 57, which may be conical and contracts in an upward direction. Below the flange 56 and between it and the shoulder- 53 there is an annular chamber 58 surrounding the element 55, and this chamber communicates with an air passage 59 in the extension 52. On top of this element 55 is placed a ring 60; and this ring supports a second deflector element 55, the ring being cut through at 61 to put the annular chamber surrounding the second element 55 into communication with a second passage 59 above the first. The two passages are separated by a horizontal partition 62. The top of the extension has an air inlet 63 leading to the upper passage 59, and the lower side of the extension has a similar inlet 63. Through these two inlets and the partition 62 extends a valve stem 64, carrying two valves 65, to close and open the inlets 63; and between the partition 62 and the lower valve 65 is a coiled spring 66 surrounding the stem 64, and acting normally to close the inlets 63. Beneath the extension 52 is a head 67 on the stem 64, and this head is engaged by a nose 68 on the cam strip 47.

With this design, as the valve 5 is opened more and more, and the valve 21 likewise, the cam 68 will lift the stem 64 against the compression of the spring 66. Hence air can enter the passages 59, and flow into the carburetor through the annular spaces 81a and 31b at the lower ends of the elements 55. This air expands towards the axis of the bore 2, and attacks as before the mixture of-air and gasoline on all sides coming from the nozzle 17. There may be as many elements 55 as desired, and when the air and gasoline leaves the carburetor; the vaporization is complete and a rich and eflicient fuel is the result.

The portion of the structure of my carburetor for supplying auxiliary air is claimed in my application, Serial No. 688, above mentioned.

A spring 69 encircles the hub 42, and is fastened at one end to the casing and has its other end in a recess '70 in the hub, to act to hold the shaft '7 with cam 6 in the position shown in Figure 3, with the valves 21 and 65 shut; also the valve 5; that is, the space 31 too will be as nearly closed as possible.

In the lower inlet 63 a removable and adjustable seat '71 for the lower valve 65 may be threaded.

Let one assume that the ends of the strip 47 have been adjusted so that the idling mixture and the maximum speed mixture are satisfactory but that between these, the mixture is too rich. Inasmuch as the cam 47 is flexible, it is evident that if one backs one bolt 48 while the other remains fixed, the face of the cam 47 will be altered from a plane to a curved surface, to diminish or increase the gasoline supplied at intermediate points, between an idling and a high speed, without detriment to conditions for high speed or idling. Thus, one can regulate the gasoline to suit the varying requirements or different engines, and to obtain a satisfactory air-gasoline ratio in all cases.

The usual vacuum in the manifold of an internal combustion engine variw in direct ratio to the opening or closing of the air inlet valve, or throttle. In a majority of cases, this vacuum ranges from 20 inches of mercury displacement when the throttle valve is closed, to inch when the throttle is fully open. Clearly, a depression equivalent to 20 inches of mercury displacement will force a greater quantity of liquid through a fixed orifice, in a given time than will a depression of equivalent to but inch mercury displacement, and therefore, the normal vacuum cannot'be relied upon to supply a steady and regular flow of gasoline to the carburetor.

If the injector 3 were exposed to this usual fluctuating vacuum, and the gasoline tank placed at a level below the carburetor, in every case a surplus of gasoline will be infevidence when the throttle or valve 5 is closed; and, if the gasoline level is more than 6 inches below the carburetor, no gasoline at all will beavailable when the throttle is fully open. In view of this fact, the usual fluctuating vacuum of a gasoline engine cannot be depended upon to supply the gasoline to a carburetor.

When the throttle is closed and the vacuum in the engine, manifold and carburetor is at its maximum of approximately 20 inches of mercury, the ingress of air at the holes 19 and 20 lessens the efleot of the maximum vacuum on the gasoline in a limited degree, and if the air inlet ports 18 be approximatelyfi of an inch in diameter, the air stream rushing through them will reduce the maximum vacuum on the incoming fuel to 3 inches of mercury displacement in the nozzle 1'7 and prevent this vacuum from increasing in the nozzle 17, while the vacuum in other parts of the carburetor and 'in the manifold rises to and remains at 18 to 20 inches mercury displacement.

As the valve 5 rises to permit air to flow between the rim of the nozzle 1'1, and the edge of the opening 30, there ensues a vacuum in the nozzle 17, by reason of the velocity of the annular air stream passing inward and upward through nozzle 17, does not vary as readily as in the remainder of the carburetor. Repeated laboratory tests show that as the valve 5 is elevated and more and more air is admitted, the vacuum in the nozzle 17 remains approximately constant, while the vacuum decreases in all other parts of the device.

Consequently, when the vacuum in the manifold, and other portions of the device, is at its minimum of but A; inch of mercury, it is fully maintained in the nozzle 17. This vacuum created by the air passing the rim of the nozzle 17 would reach down into the space between the ports 18, and increase the unbalanced pressure on the gasoline, but for the air entering this space, which breaks the pull in this case as in the former. Thus by proper control of the air velocity, one may increase the minimum vacuum in the nozzle 17 adjacent ports 18 to 3 inches and hold it steadily there at all throttle positions.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new and desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

1. A carburetor having a casing, an expansion nozzle with a flaring delivery end therein, an injector to deliver fuel to the nozzle, and an air valve in the casing surrounding the nozzle and of greater diameter inside than the mouth of said nozzle, said valve having one end-shaped to direct air flowing through the valve and between it and the nozzle, across the rim of the mouth of the nozzle towards the axis thereof, the casing andwthe valve having registering air inlet openings in the sides thereof,

2. A carburetor having a casing, an expansion nozzle with a'flaring delivery end in the casing, an'

injector to deliver hydrocarbon to the nozzle, and an air valve containing the nozzle and of an inside diameter to permit air to flow through the valve between it and the nozzle, said valve having a contracted end adjacent the mouth of the nozzle to direct air across the rim of the latter, the easing and the valve having registering air inlet openings in the sides thereof.

3. A carburetor having a casing, a support in said. casing in transverse position, an expansion nozzle with a flaring delivery end on said support, the nozzle being open at both ends, an injector extending into one end of the support, the injector also being transversely arranged, and having an orifice to deliver to said nozzle, a sleeve extending into the other end of said support, and a valve in said sleeve to control said orifice.

4. A carburetor having a casing, a support in said casing in transverse position, an expansion nozzle on said support, an injector extending into one end of the support, and having an orifice to deliver to said nozzle, a sleeve extending into the other end of said support, and a valve in saidsleeve to control said orifice, the sleeve being separated from the end of the injector by a space in the support, and ports in the opposite sides of said support, making a passage at the end of the injector leading to said nozzle.

5. In a carburetor, a support open at both ends, and an expansion nozzle open at both ends thereon, said support having openings on opposite sides, one of the openings leading into the nozzle, which is fixed with respect to the support.

6. A carburetor having a casing, an injector for fuel, an expansion nozzle with a flaring delivery end to which the injector delivers, the injector extending transversely of the nozzle and a valve to direct a blast 01 air past the mouth of said nozzle nozzle open to the air at both ends to maintain a constant vacuum at the end of the injector.

7. A carburetor having a casing, an injector for fuel, an expansion nozzle with a flaring delivery end, to which the injector delivers, the injector extending transversely of the nozzle and a valve surrounding said nozzle, and having an open end the edge of which is spaced from the mouth of the nozzle to form an annular space to direct a blast of air past the mouth of the nozzle and keep a constant vacuum at the end of themjector.

8. In a carburetor the combination of a tubular casing, a member therein with a part extending transversely of the casing and a fixed part extend longitudinally of the casing, the latter part having a passage through it and across the former part, the transverse part having a fuel entrance at one side of the casing, and means at the other side of the casing to control said fuel.

9. A carburetor for an internal combustion engine, comprising a tubular casing, a T-shaped member in the casing having a part extending longitudinally of the casing and a cross-part, the longitudinal part having a passage through it and the cross part, the latter having an entrance for fuel atone side of the tubular casing, means on the opposite side of the casing in the cross part to control the admission of fuel and a valve, the casing surrounding said member arranged so that the fuel can be drawn into the carburetor by the engine from below the level of the cross-part of the said member.

10. The carburetor according to claim 8, wh r in the casing contains a sleeve valve with one end open to be closed by engagement with the longitudinal part and opened when the valve is moved out of such engagement to provide an additional air passage.

11. A carburetor comprising a hollow body, a T-shaped member therein, with a part arranged longitudinally of the casing and a cross portion, the longitudinal part having an air passage extending from end to end and transversely of the cross portion, the latter having a fuel entrance at one end and means in the other end of the cross portion to control the fuel, a sleeve valve in the body having an end opening to be closed by engagement with the longitudinal part and opened by being moved out of such engagement to provide additional air, and means for simultaneously regulating the entrance of fuel and the additional air.

12. A carburetor having a casing, an expansion nozzle open to the air at both ends therein, an injector to deliver hydrocarbon to the nozzle, and a valve in the casing surrounding the nozzle and of greater diameter'inside than the mouth of said nozzle, said valve having one end shaped to direct air flowing through the valve and between it and the nozzle, across the rim of the mouth of the nozzle, towards the axis thereof.

13. A carburetor having a casing, an expansion in the casing, an injector to deliver hydrocarbon to the nozzle, and a valve containing the nozzle and of a diameter inside to permit air to flow through the valve between it and the nozzle, said valve having a contracted end adjacent the mouth of the nozzle to direct air across the rim of the latter.

14. A carburetor having a casing, a support in said casing in transverse position, an expansion nozzle on said support, an injector extending into one end of the support, and having an orifice to deliver to said nozzle, a sleeve extending into the other end of said support, anda valve in said sleeve to control said orifice.

15. A carburetorhaving a casing, an injector for hydrocarbon, an expansion nozzle open to the air at both ends to which the injector delivers, and a. valve to direct a blast of air past the mouth of said nozzle to maintain a constant vacuum at the end of the injector.

16. A carburetor having a'casing, an injector for hydrocarbon, an expansion nozzle open to the air at both ends to which the injector delivers, and a valve surrounding said nozzle,. and having an open end, the edge of which is spaced from the mouth of the nozzle to form an annular space to direct a blast of air past the mouth of the nozzle and keep a constant vacuum at the end of the injector.

17. A carburetor having a casing, an injector for hydrocarbon, and parts for admitting air to the carburetorto vaporize the hydrocarbon, said parts comprising means open at both ends to the air to vaporize the fuel including a movable element shaped to maintain a constant vacuum at said injector.

18. A carburetor having a casing, an injector for hydrocarbon, the casing containing parts comprising means open at both ends to the air providing a space for the flow of air past said injector to vaporize the hydrocarbon, and an element through which air flows outside of said space to maintain a constant vacuum upon said injector.

19. A device of the character described comprising a body portion, a sleeve within said body portion adapted to be slid up and down, said sleeve having an opening at one end, and a fuel atomizing means within said sleeve and having a fixed flared end larger than said opening for forming a closure for said opening against which flared end said sleeve may be slid into contact so thatmovement of said sleeve will control said opening and passage of air therethrough.

20. A device of the character described comprising a tubular body portion, a T-shaped member within said body portion with the single leg thereof extending longitudinally of the body portion, said leg having an air-passage from end to end transversely through the cross-portion of said T-member, and the cross-portion having a fuel entry from one side of the body portion, and means from the other side of said body for controlling said fuel entry.

21. A device of the character described comprising the construction set forth in claim 20, and a sleeve within said tubular body portion having an end opening adapted to be closed by engagement with said single leg and opened when slid out of engagement therefrom so as to provide an auxiliary air supply.

22. In a carburetor, the combination of a tubular casing, a member therein with a part extending transversely of the casing and a part extending longitudinally of the casing, the latter part having a passage through it and across the former part, the transverse part having a fuel entrance at one side of the casing, and means at the other side of the casing to control said fuel, said casing containing a sleeve valve with one end open to be closed by engagement with the longitudinal part and opened when the valve is moved out of such engagement to provide an additional airpassage.

GUY L. KENNEDY. 

